New York sues to dissolve Trump Foundation, cites illegal conduct

New York's attorney general on Thursday sued US President Donald Trump and his namesake foundation, saying the nonprofit should be dissolved after more than a decade of illegal conduct, including support for Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign.

Barbara
Underwood, the attorney general, accused the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its
directors of conducting "extensive unlawful political coordination"
with the campaign, and "repeated and wilful self-dealing" to benefit
Trump's personal and business interests.

"The
Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr Trump or
his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose of legality,"
Underwood said in a statement. "That is not how private foundations should
function."

The
foundation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Trump's
children were also named as defendants in the attorney general's petition,
filed with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

New York is also seeking $2.8 million of
restitution plus penalties, a 10-year ban on Trump serving as a director of a
New York nonprofit, and one-year bans for his children Donald Jr, Eric and
Ivanka.